Rockett
cord type container carrier

ABSTRACT

A CARRING UNIT FOR A PLURALITY OF CONTAINERS AND THE LIKE BEING COMPRISED OF TWO SERIES OF LOOPS, EACH SERIES OF SAID LOOPS BEING COMPRISED OF A CORD OR RIBBON WOUND OR PLACED UPON A SERIES OF CONTAINERS TO CO-MATE IN A GRIPPING MANNER, SAID LOOPS BEING FORMED OR WELDED FROM A SINGLE STRAND OR A PLURALITY OF STRANDS, EMBODIMENTS BEING COMPRISED OF TWO STRANDS PER SERIES OF LOOPS BEING WELDED, TWISTED AND WELDED OR OTHERWISE JOINED TO FORM COMPLETE LOOPS, SAID SERIES OF SAID LOOPS THEN BEING JOINED TOGETHER TO FORM A PACKAGE UNIT HAVING TWO PARALLEL ROWS OF CLUSTERED CONTAINERS.

July 24, 1973 J. 0. ROCKETT CORD TYPE CONTAINER CARRIER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1Original Filed Dec. 27, 1967 y 1973 J. D. ROCKETT CORD TYPE CONTAINERCARRIER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Dec.

July 24, 1973 J. D. ROCKETT 27,705

CORD TYI'IY CONTAINER CARRIER Original Filed Dec. 27, 1967 l3ShuuitJ-fjlmut 5 United States Patent 27,705 CORD TYPE CONTAINER CARRIERJames D. Rockett, Eagle, Wis., assignor to Illinois Tool Works, Inc.,Chicago, Ill.

Original No. 3,480,135, dated Nov. 25, 1969, Ser. No. 693,856, Dec. 27,1967. Application for reissue July 27, 1971, Ser. No. 166,553

Int. Cl. B6511 21/02, 71/00, 85/62 U.S. Cl. 206-65 C 13 Clauns Matterenclosed in heavy brackets appears in the 1 original patent but forms nopart of this reissue specification; matter printed in italics indicatesthe additions made by reissue.

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE 1 A carrying unit for a plurality ofcontainers and the like being comprised of two series of loops, eachseries of said loops being comprised of a cord or ribbon being wound orplaced upon a series of containers to co-mate in a gripping manner, saidloops being formed or welded from a single strand or a plurality ofstrands, embodiments being comprised of two strands per series of loopsbeing welded, twisted and welded or otherwise joined to form completeloops, said series of said loops then being joined together to form apackage unit having two parallel rows of clustered containers.

The present invention is designed to overcome the troubles and faults ofprior art pertaining to container carriers. In the past most of theproduction of canned beverages, such as beer, was packaged, usually, inclusters of six, in paperboard cartons. Because of high costs andpackaging speeds required, a substantial changeover to plastic sheet andweb type container carriers has been made. The web type containercarrier has made the greatest inroad into the market because of itslower cost. But, this web type carrier still has a relatively highinstalled cost. This relatively high cost can be attributed mainly tofour factors: (1) the large amount of plastic material initiallyrequired, (2) a die cutting operation to form the desired apertures intothe carrier, (3) the waste material removed by the die cutting, (4) thecomplicated and expensive machinery required to install the carriers onthe containers.

The present invention is designed to overcome all these difficulties bythe use of a continuous cord or ribbon or plurality of cords or ribbons.This method will reduce the installed costs of a container carrier by:(1) an absolute minimum of material initially required; (2) no secondarycutting operation, (3) no waste, (4) simple and inexpensive installationmachinery.

The present invention is just as its name implies-a container carriercomprised entirely, in most embodiments, of a thin solid or hollowcenter cord or ribbon installed onto the containers and welded, forstrength and rigidity, at strategic points in a continuous operationutilizing a method of producing a continuous series of loops in thecords or ribbons. The cords and ribbons are preferably made from aplastic material having at least some degree of elasticity. Thecontinuous series of loops enclosing said containers are then severed atdesired points to produce clustered containers in the desiredpluralities. Removal of the clustered containers is accomplished byslipping the containers out of their loops or 6 Re. 27,705 Reissued July24, 1973 by tilting at least one container to break the carrierstructure.

The cord type container carrier will be described with reference to theattached drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cord type contalner carrier;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the container carrier of FIG. 1installed upon a cluster of containers;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another embodiment utilizing ribbon;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of still another embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view showing a cord on a chimed can;

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view showing a ribbon on a chimed can;

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view showing a cord on a flush chime can;

FIG. 9 is a side view showing cord connecting means;

FIG. 10 is a side view showing ribbon connecting means.

With reference to FIG. 1 a cord type container carrier is shown as atwo-piece unit for a clearer understanding. One piece is designated ascord I and the other as cord II. Both are comprised of single strands ofcontinuous plastic cords with said cords being formed into a series ofcontinuous loops 10A, 10 and 10B with traversals 11 connectingsuccessive loops. The loops 10A, 10 and 10B of cord I are then welded,by sufiicient application of heat, to the loops 10A, 10 and 10B of cordII along planes G-G' or cord I may be joined to cord II by welding planeA-A' of cord I to plane B-B' of cord II. Loops 10 of joined cords I andII may also be welded along planes H-H' for added strength and rigidity.Welding is not done across loops 10A to 10 or from 10 to 10B asindicated by the dashed lines of loops 10A and 108. The containercarrier may then be severed, as in this case, along planes C-C' and DD'by cutting traversal cords 11 and leaving traverse stubs 11A and 118 onthe cluster having the desired plurality of grouped containers.

A cluster of joined containers 20, commonly known as a six-pack, isillustrated in FIG. 2 and shows the presour invention installed on thesaid containers 20. The loops 10 encircle containers 2|] below containerchimes 21 along container sides 22 in a co-mating manner. Traversals 11extend longitudinally between the two rows of containers and terminatein stubs 11A at the left of the drawing and stub 11B (not shown) at theright.

A carrying handle 14 may be used with the cord type container carrier ofFIGS. 1 and 2. The carrying handle 14 has slots 14A in each side memberto grapple traversals 11. Carrying handle 14 is inserted along planes Eand F.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention in which thecontainer carrier is constructed from four separate strands of cord. Forclarity this is also shown as a two piece drawing with cords I and IIforming one part and cords III andIV forming the second part. Acontinuous series of loops 10A, 10 and 10B of both parts is utilized asin FIGS. 1 and 2 with the difference being in the manner that the loops10 are formed. In this embodiment two successive loops are formed by atwist of the two cords comprising each part for each loop. The thirdtwist is a 360 twist which may be made in a direction opposite to thefirst two twists. The first part. consisting of cord I and cord II, isthen joined and welded to the second part, consisting of cord III andcord IV, along planes A-A' and BB' respectively across loops 10A, 10 and103 along planes 6-6. For rigidity, welding is also done longitudinallyacross loops 10A, 10 and 103 along palnes H-H'. Severance into desiredclustered pluralities is done along planes C-C and DD' across the 360twist.

FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention which ischaracterized by the utilization of four strands of ribbon to form thecontainer carrier. Ribbon I and ribbon II are welded to each other byjoining surface 12 of ribbon I to surface 12 of ribbon II along planesJ-I', C-C and DD'. Ribbon III and ribbon IV are similarly joined andwelded to each other. The first part, consisting of ribbons I and II, isthen welded to the second part, consisting of ribbons III and IV, byjoining planes A-A' to plane B-B along planes G-G'.

Severance is along planes CC and DD'. This embodi- H ment allows asufficiently large surface 12 for welding for greater strength of thecontainer carrier.

FIG. 5 illustrates still another embodiment of the present invention inwhich a single cord or ribbon is used to form the container carrier andis characterized by an integral handle. The carrier is formed commencingfrom the center, K, of a cord or ribbon. As shown by the arrows the tworear loops C and 10C are formed with the cords or ribbons thentraversing to and forming center loops l0 and then traversing to andforming front loops 10D and 10D and going under traversal 11 at point L,then being turned upward and extended to above point K, there beingextended downward to the rear and outside of point K to below traversal11 where the two ends are joined. The extension of the cords or ribbonsfrom point L to point K forms handle 13 and 13'. The carrier is thenwelded along planes ABA'B' and HH.

A cross sectional view of the present invention as installed oncontainers of FIG. 2 is illustrated in FIG. 6 and is taken along planesH-H' of FIGS. 1 and 5. As shown, the cords comprising loops 10 are of adiameter approximately equal to the distance chimes 21 extend beyond cansides 22 allowing loops 10 to contact each other for welding as shown inthe center of the drawing.

FIG. 7 illustrates the use of ribbon as substituted for the cord in FIG.6.

FIG. 8 shows the use of cord loops 10 installed on the newer flush chimecontainers where loops 10 are in the recess 23 below chimes 21.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show a method of connecting reels of cord or ribbontogether to provide a continuous length of cord or ribbon for carrierfabrication. Cord or ribbon ends 30 have holes 32 drilled into theirsolid centers and the holes 32 are coated with an adhesive. Connectingplugs 31 are then inserted into cord or ribbon ends 30. Hollow centercord or ribbon is similarly connected but without the need to drillholes 32.

The present invention and all its embodiments may be formed and weldedbefore installation, formed and welded during installation, or weldedafter installation.

The present invention has been shown in certain preferred embodimentsbut is not intended to be limited threto. Allowance is to be made tocorrespond with changes in the packaging industry such as, a change inpluralities of grouped containers in which two parallel rows of four areused to produce an eight-pack or three parallel rows of three to producea nine-pack. The choice of solid center or hollow center cord or solidcenter or hollow center ribbon is dependent upon the weight, size andhandling of the units.

I claim:

1. A container carrier for cans and the like being comprised of aplurality of continuous plastic cords, said cords being formed intocontinuous series of loops, said loops being placeable upon containersbelow the upper container chime and along said container sides in acomating manner with enough tension in said loops to grip saidcontainers, said continuous series of loops encircling said containersbeing joined together and welded so as to etlect a rigid structure, saidstructure being severable between certain loops to obtain secondarystructures having the desired pluralities of clustered containers.

2. The container carrier of claim 1 being comprised of a plurality ofcontinuous bands.

3. The container carrier of claim 1 being comprised of a singularcontinuous cord.

4. The container carrier of claim 1 being comprised of a singularcontinuous band.

5. A container for a plurality of containers, said carrier formed from aresilient plastic matcrial and having a cord like cross-sectional shape,said material being formed into a plurality of interconnectedcontigouous and circumferentially continuous loops capable ofindividually gripping ly engaging the outer circumferentially surface ofone of said containers independently of the engagement of saidcontainers by any of the other loops.

6. A container carrier as defined in claim 5, wherein said material isformed to be hollow.

7. A container carrier as defined in claim 5, and handle means forcarrying a unitary package of said carrier and a plurality ofcontainers.

8. A container carrier as defined in claim 5, said material furtherbeing formed to have transversal cords extending between contiguousloops.

9. A container carrier for a plurality of containers, said carrierformed from a resilient plastic material and having a ribbon-likecross-sectional shape, said ribbon-like material being formed into aplurality of interconnected contigouous and circumfercntiully continuousloops capable of individually grippingly engaging the outercircumferential surface of one of said containers, and theinterconnection of said loops being formed by a welding of saidribbon-like material.

10. A container carrier for cans and the like being comprised of plasticcords being formed into a series of contiguous loops, said loops adaptedto be placed upon complcmentary containers below their upper containerchimes and along said container sides in a co-mating manner with enoughtension in said loops to grippigly engage each of said containers, saidcontiguous series of loops adapted to encircle said containers beingintegral at selected locations so as to eflect a unitary structure,wherein each of said loops operates as an isolated independent element,said structure being severa ble between loops to produce structureshaving the desired pluralities of loops which when associated with aplurality of cans produce a package of clustered containers.

11. A container carrier for a plurality of containers, said carriercomprising two lengths of d cord-like resilient plastic material, saidtwo lengths of material disposed in an undulating and cooperatingpattern to define a longirudinally extending series of contiguous loops,said two lengths of material being interconnected between said loops todefine a longitudinally extending series of circum ferenriallycontinuous container encircling loops, and the interconnection of saidloops being formed by a welding of said cord-like material.

12. A container carrier for a plurality of containers, said carriercomprising four lengths of a ribbon-like resilient plastic material,said {our lengths of material disposed in an undulating and cooperatingpattern to define two rows of longitudinally extending contiguous loops,said lengths of material being interconnected between adjacent loops todefine two adjacent rows of circumferentially con tinuous containerencircling loops, and the interconnection of said loops being formed bya welding of said ribbonlikc material.

13. In a container carrier, said carrier being formed of record in thepatented file of this patent or the original from a resilient plasticmaterial and having a cord-like patent. cross-sectional shape, saidmaterial being formed into a plurality of inter-connected contiguous andcincumferenti- UNITED STATES PATENTS ally continuous loops, one of saidloops haivng an inner 5 1 333 0 92 Spmen 20 23 4 peripheral extent sothat said loop is capable of encircling 2 35 0 9 10 19 53 p b 2Q6 65 D acontainer and grippingly engaging the outer circum- 2 4 2 8/1961Biesacker et aL 20 C ferential surface of said container, and another ofsaid 3 097 745 7 1963 p n h 205 65 loops being shaped to form a handlefor transporting said carrier, and the interconnection of said loopsbeing formed 10 WILLIAM T. DIXSON, JR., Primary Examiner by a welding ofsaid cord-like material.

US. Cl. X.R.

References 220 23.4, 116; 294-872 The following references, cited by theExaminer, are

